Senate approves $60 million in supplemental aid to Ukraine (05/01/05)

Senate approves $60 million in supplemental aid to Ukraine

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - The United States Senate approved $60 million in assistance to Ukraine last week, though a similar bill that passed the House of Representatives earlier gave Ukraine $33.7 million. The amounts budgeted appeared in the supplemental appropriations bill for 2005.

The two bills must now pass through a conference committee composed of members of both houses of Congress. It is a process designed to reconcile the two differing bills and one that could change the amount awarded to Ukraine.

Because both the Senate and House versions come as portions of larger, contentious bills, it is believed that the compromise bill will be changed significantly. For this reason, it is also difficult to establish a timetable on final passage of the bill.

The Senate version of the bill awarded Ukraine the full amount of money that U.S. President George W. Bush first requested. The Senate bill passed on April 21 by a vote of 99-0 and was the last action Congress has taken on the matter.

The House version of the bill, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror and Tsunami Relief, 2005 (H.R. 1268), passed the House on March 16 by a vote of 388-43.

In passing its version of the bill, the Senate Appropriations Committee said it "recognizes the historic achievements of the Orange Revolution and believes that additional funding will help promote and consolidate vital political and economic reforms in that country."

The Senate committee went on to say that it "strongly supports programs to strengthen Ukrainian civil society organizations, which play a key role in the consolidation of democracy. The committee believes that support for these organizations should be increased, and recommends not less than $3,650,000 for these programs."

The Senate bill stipulated that $70 million be made available until September 30, 2006. But it added that, of the total, $5 million "shall be made available for democracy programs in Belarus, which shall be administered by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor" at the State Department.

It also stipulated that "not less than $5 million shall be made available through the United States Agency for International Development for humanitarian, conflict mitigation, and other relief and recovery assistance for needy families and communities in Chechnya, Ingushetia and elsewhere in the North Caucasus."

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